Alfie Bloom and the Talisman Thief

by Gabrielle Kent

  The Change Magic

  Alfie woke abruptly from yet another nightmare about turning into a dragon. Something was brushing his face. He sat up quickly, dislodging Galileo from his chest, and patted himself down to check that his body was still human. The cat’s tail was swishing from side to side as he watched the mouse in its cage on Alfie’s desk.

  “Wha-issit?” said Robin blearily from his inflatable mattress on the floor. Madeleine and Amy were sharing a room too. There were enough bedrooms for everyone several times over, but none of them felt like being alone after what had happened to Ashford.

  “It’s just Galileo,” said Alfie, getting up and grabbing the cat. “He’s obsessed with that mouse. I’m going to put him out.”

  “OK,” said Robin, checking his watch. With the shutters down it was impossible to get an idea of the time. “It’s seven o’clock. We might as well open up the shutters and let the mouse go. It looks fine now.”

  Alfie looked into the cage. The mouse was running in circles, squeaking agitatedly. It stopped as he approached and stood on its back legs to look up at him. It did look as though Galileo hadn’t done any damage. He put the wriggling cat down on the floor, where it prowled around his ankles, looking hopefully up at the cage.

  “Not for you!” said Alfie, wagging his finger. He picked up the cage. If he released the mouse in the courtyard and kept Galileo shut up for the day it would have time to get back to wherever it belonged.

  Galileo let out a hopeful yowl as Alfie carefully carried the cage across the room. “No, you’re staying in here,” he said, nudging the cat back with his foot as he opened the door. “Robin, would you catch him?”

  “OK,” yawned Robin. “Here, fella.” Galileo hissed as Robin tried to grab him and clawed his way up Alfie’s leg to swat at the cage.

  “Ow!” cried Alfie, holding the cage out of the cat’s reach. “Robin, get him off me!”

  “I’m trying!” said Robin. Alfie felt the cat’s claws rake his leg as Robin pulled the spitting creature off him. What had got into him?

  Between the two of them, they managed to shut Galileo in the bedroom, and then they took the cage downstairs. The sunlight that flooded the dark entrance hall as Alfie flicked the security switch made him blink painfully. Several of Caspian’s ravens were patrolling the castle walls, so Alfie released the mouse into the long grass across the drawbridge. The ravens watched it hungrily but stayed at their posts as it scurried away down the hill.

  For breakfast, Alfie’s dad reheated the remainder of the soggy lasagne, and prepared prunes, bran flakes and custard to follow.

  “Tuck in. Got to keep yourselves regular!” he announced. Alfie nearly choked on a prune stone in his embarrassment.

  The phone rang as they were washing the dishes. Alfie rushed to answer it. A slightly flustered-sounding Emily Fortune was on the other end.

  “Alfie!” she exclaimed. “Is Ashford there?”

  “What do you mean?” asked Alfie. “How could he be here?”

  “We received a message this morning. They released him last night.” She sounded a little concerned. “I thought he’d be there by now, but I suppose it depends on the gateway they used to send him back.”

  “Caspian did it? Ashford’s free? I don’t have to give up the talisman?” Alfie could hardly believe it.

  “They said that they didn’t want to break the peace between our worlds,” said Emily.

  “That meeting with Caspian must have scared the Queen into giving Ashford back,” said Alfie, thinking of the iron knights. He wondered what other resources Caspian had up his sleeve.

  “Maybe. I just never would have thought she’d be so … so reasonable.”

  “This is great news though, isn’t it?” said Alfie, wondering why Emily wasn’t dancing around the room when he was tempted to do so himself.

  “Yes. Yes, I’m sure it is,” said Emily, finally allowing herself to let out a little laugh. “It’s the best news. He’s coming home!”

  Alfie let out a whoop of joy that made everyone rush out from the kitchen.

  “They let Ashford go!” he told them. Amy and the twins hugged each other and such a look of relief ran over Alfie’s dad’s face, revealing just how worried he had really been.

  “Alfie, would you mind if I pay you a visit?” asked Emily. “I’d like to be there when Ashford gets back.”

  “Of course,” said Alfie, putting his hand over his free ear to block out the questions the others were shouting as he strained to hear what Emily was saying. “OK, see you this afternoon.”

  The castle and everyone in it seemed much more cheerful in the light of Ashford’s release. Madeleine had gone back to the farm to help Granny with the sheep shearing, but made Alfie promise to call as soon as Ashford was home. Robin had been talking excitedly to Alfie’s dad over breakfast about an idea he had for some sort of security device, should the elves ever return. The two of them disappeared into the workshop, where Alfie’s dad had recently set up a small forge, to explore the idea.

  Amy had promised her gran that she wouldn’t leave her maths homework to the last minute, and went up to her room after lunch to catch up with it. Alfie had plenty of his own homework left to do but killed time batting Amy’s baseball around the courtyard garden as he waited for Emily to arrive.

  At around two o’clock he heard a car coming up the hill. He had been keeping an eye on the skies for a flying coach so was surprised when a white vintage sports car drove over the drawbridge. The roof was down and Emily waved at him as she pulled into the courtyard.

  “Alfie!” she got out of the car and kissed him on both cheeks before untying her headscarf and shaking her long, dark hair free.

  “You can drive?” said Alfie, feeling silly for asking even as he said it.

  “We don’t use the coaches during the day if we can help it,” laughed Emily. “Besides, this is my day off.” She held out her elbow to him. “Shall we?”

  “Er, OK.” Alfie hooked his arm through hers and she practically skipped into the castle alongside him. He found himself being dragged along behind as she twirled from room to room.

  “It’s been so long since I was last here,” she smiled, whirling around the Great Hall. “You must show me everything you have found so far!”

  Alfie took Emily on a whirlwind tour of the castle, taking in the kitchens, bedrooms, cellars, battlements and a secret passage from one of the bedrooms to a huge linen closet. As they squeezed out from between the piles of neatly ironed sheets, it suddenly struck Alfie that the castle didn’t have a washing machine and he had never seen Ashford doing any ironing. Come to think of it, no one ever vacuumed or dusted either. It was just another remarkable mystery of Hexbridge Castle.

  Emily raced up the steps of the southern tower as soon as Alfie opened the hidden door. He was getting tired trying to keep up with her.

  “So, this is the great Artan,” she said, as they visited the room where the bear lived. Artan floated into an upright position and delivered a deep bow.

  “M’lady.”

  “I’ve heard tales of your heroics during your time with Orin,” said Emily. “It’s an honour to meet you at last, old man. I believe you and Alfie have become great friends?”

  “I couldn’t bear to be without him,” said Artan.

  Alfie rolled his eyes as Emily laughed at the joke. “We try not to encourage him,” he whispered.

  “Have you found the entrance to the eastern tower yet?” Emily asked later as they headed down to the kitchens. “I know Orin kept some of his greatest treasures there.”

  Alfie hadn’t, but immediately put it to the top of his list of things to do during the holiday. He made a pot of tea and they drank it sitting in armchairs in front of the fireplace in the library. He told Emily about the strange dreams he had been getting where his arms turned scaly and green. He hadn’t known who to talk to about it, but just telling Emily made him feel better.

  “I thought I was dreaming it the first
time, but I saw it clearly while I was trying to pull myself through the portal. I don’t know what it was.”

  “I think I do,” said Emily. She laid her hand gently on his arm, which made Alfie think he wasn’t going to like what he was about to hear. “During your battle with Murkle and Snitch the magic Orin hid inside you took their power away. They couldn’t change back into a dragon because your magic fed on theirs. It’s a part of you now.”

  Alfie felt sick. “But they were evil! You’re saying their magic is inside me, trying to turn me into a dragon?”

  “It’s not trying to do anything,” said Emily. “No magic is evil, or good. It just is. This is a change magic, but because it was only ever used by your headmistresses to change between dragon and human form, that is all it knows. A change magic could be very useful if you mastered it.”

  “I don’t want it.”

  “Are you sure? Many would love to have that ability.”

  The idea of being able to change form was tempting. Alfie thought of everything he could do with it: become an actual fly on the wall to listen in on any conversation, impersonate anyone he wanted to, finally grow two inches taller. He could even turn into an eagle and fly alongside Artan – then he remembered the grotesque appearance of Murkle and Snitch after he sprayed them with a revelation potion. They had morphed into twisted versions of all of their previous forms before revealing themselves as a vicious two-headed dragon. The temptation passed. “Is there a way get rid of it?”

  “Only one that I know of. The magic Orin gave you feeds on energy and uses it to create things. Now that it has taken the dragon’s change magic, the only way to get rid of it is to allow your own magic to feed on it and create something from it. But you are far from ready to do that. You mustn’t even consider it until you begin your training with Orin.”

  “So I’ve got to put up with it until I’m thirteen?” said Alfie.

  “Perhaps longer,” said Emily. “It will take time for Orin to teach you.”

  “How is this training even supposed to work? Orin lives six hundred years in the past!” Alfie had tried many times to will himself back into Orin’s time. His birth during a magical timeslip had given him the ability to slip between present day and the year he was born, over six hundred years ago, but it was uncontrolled. He hadn’t even come close to travelling back intentionally.

  Emily leant forwards and said quietly, “Ashford may be able help you.”

  “What do you mean?” asked Alfie.

  “He could teach you how to go back in time. You both share that unusual skill.”

  Alfie’s eyes widened. “You’re telling me Ashford can timeslip too? There are others, like me?”

  “Very few. Ashford was born with the ability. Like you, he can travel between two time periods, hundreds of years apart.”

  Alfie couldn’t believe that Ashford had been living with them for nearly a year and hadn’t thought to share this with him.

  “How—”

  “I can’t say any more,” said Emily. “Caspian would be furious if he knew I had told you about Ashford’s ability.”

  She glanced at her watch as she mentioned his name.

  “I’m sure he’ll be back soon,” said Alfie.

  “Of course he will,” said Emily, smiling quickly. “Meanwhile, I have some experience with change magics. Maybe if I teach you to use it, you will be able to stop it manifesting itself.” She took Alfie’s cup and put it aside. “Show me.”

  Alfie stared at her. “But I didn’t use it on purpose. It just happened. I don’t know how to use it.”

  “Have you tried?”

  Alfie shook his head.

  “Well then, try.”

  Alfie couldn’t believe that Emily expected him to be able to use Murkle and Snitch’s magic at will, but it didn’t sound as though she was going to take no for an answer.

  “What do I do?” he asked.

  “Find where it lies inside you and wake it.”

  Alfie tried to relax and follow Emily’s instructions. He closed his eyes and remembered the sensation of power that had built up inside him before he used the ancient magic against Murkle and Snitch. He turned his mind inwards and searched for that feeling. Just as he was starting to feel irritated, he felt it – the ancient magic coiled like a snake inside his chest. He could sense something smaller there with it, the change magic caught in its coils. Alfie focused on it and felt it slowly come awake, sending a slight tingle through every nerve in his body.

  “Good. Now, let it flow through you.” Emily’s words floated on the edge of Alfie’s hearing. “Let’s try something simple. Your skin. Let’s see if you can turn it blue.”

  “I don’t know how.”

  “Focus. Find a way.”

  “But, I—”

  “Do it. Become blue.”

  Alfie sighed irritably and focused hard on the colour blue.

  “You’re trying too hard,” said Emily. “Imagine it just happening, rather than trying to make it happen.”

  Alfie relaxed a little and imagined the colour washing over him, painting his entire body, his eyelids, his fingernails, in-between his toes. He imagined it was a truth. Just as the grass was green, Alfie Bloom was blue.

  “Open your eyes,” said Emily softly.

  Alfie blinked and looked down at his hands. “I did it,” he whispered, flexing his blue fingers and pulling up the leg of his jeans to reveal a blue leg.

  “You did brilliantly,” smiled Emily. “That was remarkable for someone untrained. If you knew how difficult that was, you might never have managed it.”

  “How do I turn back?” asked Alfie, a tight feeling gripping his stomach as he imagined going back to school looking like an alien.

  “I’m sure you can figure that out too.”

  Alfie looked down at his hands, imagining the blue washing away and the familiar flesh tones returning to his skin. He had barely begun to think it when the blue seemed to fade away, like ink soaking into his skin as his colour returned to normal.

  Emily laughed. “That was amazing! You commanded it with incredible ease. Let’s try something bigger. If I asked you to draw someone from memory, who would you be most confident choosing?”

  Alfie didn’t even have to think. “My dad.”

  “Excellent. Become your dad.”

  Turning his skin blue was one thing, but Alfie couldn’t believe what Emily was asking “But how? Where do I even start?”

  “Let’s just try getting his head right,” said Emily. “A full body transformation is a bit much for a first try. This sort of magic should allow you to change your clothes too, but that’s far too advanced. Now, imagine your face changing to become your father’s.”

  Alfie stayed silent. What Emily was asking seemed impossible, but he didn’t want to let her down by not even trying. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly as he closed his eyes and imagined his dad’s face. He already shared some of his dad’s features, so first he imagined becoming an older version of himself with a longer face, broader chin, and a more defined jaw. It was much more difficult that turning his skin blue; there were so many little details to remember.

  “Great work,” said Emily. “Keep going.”

  Alfie imagined his nose growing a little larger, his eyes turning brown and little laughter lines appearing at their edges. It felt as though his skin was being gently pulled and stretched. His chin itched slightly. He touched it and jumped when it felt bristly, as though he needed to start shaving. Maybe he could do this after all! He opened his eyes.

  “A brilliant start,” said Emily, “You even managed the eye colour. But I can see you’re getting tired. Let’s leave it there.”

  Alfie shook his head. He didn’t mean to ignore Emily, but he knew he was getting close; he just wasn’t trying hard enough. His scalp tingled as he imagined his hair turning from red-brown to black with little grey flecks around his temples.

  “Excellent, Alfie, but stop now. This is far more than I expe
cted already.”

  Her words floated just on the edge of Alfie’s hearing as he focused on the transformation. Maybe he could grow a little too. His clothes began to feel tighter. He looked down at his feet. They definitely seemed further away. Excited by this, he imagined sending out a message to every particle in his body, demanding that it camouflage itself. It was starting to happen, he was sure of it.

  “Stop! Stop NOW!”

  The sharp tone in Emily’s voice shattered Alfie’s concentration. He blinked up at her in surprise. Emily was staring at him, her face a picture of shock and concern.

  “Sorry. I thought I nearly had it.” Emily was still staring at him, so he added, “I just wanted to keep trying. I didn’t mean to make you mad.”

  Emily handed him her powder compact.

  Alfie stared into the mirror in horror. He had changed all right. He had his dad’s hair, stubble, and most of his features, but they were hideously distorted – green and scaly. He raised his hand to his face and let out a scream as he saw long black claws instead of fingers. Emily caught him as his legs gave way. She guided him to a chair.

  “What’s happening to me?” He was shaking with shock at the sight of his own monstrous face.

  “Breathe,” said Emily, gently patting his hand. “It’s diminishing.”

  Alfie looked back at the mirror and let out a shuddery gasp of relief to see his skin losing the hideous green scales and fading back into flesh.

  “I’m sorry, Alfie. The change magic resided in a dragon for hundreds of years,” said Emily. “When you tried to force it to work, it started to take the shape it knows the best. It will take patience and great strength of will to teach it new forms.”

  “I don’t want to,” said Alfie, still shaken from his transformation into a mutant dragon.

  “You don’t have to,” said Emily. “But if you want to keep it under control, you should practise with it. It could be a long time until you get rid of it, and if it manifests itself in the meantime, you can at least control it.”